An impact evaluation released today shows the U.S. Agency for International Development’s (USAID) community-based crime and violence prevention programs in Central America help residents feel safer, perceive less crime and murders, and express greater trust in police. The three-year study, considered the gold standard of randomized control trials, was conducted by Vanderbilt University’s Latin American Public Opinion Project in Honduras, El Salvador, Guatemala, and Panama.

U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) Administrator Rajiv Shah will travel to New Delhi, India, November 4-5, to attend the World Economic Forum (WEF) and participate in bilateral meetings with Indian government officials.

Tomorrow, U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) Administrator Rajiv Shah will give the keynote remarks at the University of Notre Dame’s 2014 Global Impact Forum in Washington, D.C. Dr. Shah will discuss how USAID is embracing a new model of development--harnessing science, technology, and innovation to unlock opportunity for the world’s most vulnerable people. He will highlight how this approach is embodied in USAID’s U.S. Global Development Lab, which empowers a global community of innovators to create cutting-edge development solutions. In addressing the U.S. response to the Ebola epidemic in West Africa, Dr. Shah will underscore the importance of seeking new and improved tools to solve significant challenges, such as how USAID is sourcing proposals for improved personal protective equipment (PPE) in the fight against Ebola through its Fighting Ebola: A Grand Challenge for Development.

The World Bank Group has released Doing Business 2015: Going Beyond Efficiency, the 12th in a series of annual reports benchmarking the regulations that affect private sector firms. The U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) supports regulatory reforms in developing countries and is proud to have partnered with several countries in successfully implementing a number of reforms highlighted in this year’s report.

U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) Administrator Rajiv Shah will travel to London on Tuesday, October 28, to meet with leaders in government and business about strengthening the capacity of African governments and economies, as well as continuing to build international support for combating the Ebola outbreak in West Africa.

Launch reception to be hosted by the H.E. Liberata Mulamula, Ambassador of Tanzania to the U.S. at the Embassy of Tanzania

The U​.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) and Western Union announces the official launch of the third round of the African Diaspora Marketplace (ADM III), an initiative that promotes sustainable economic growth and job creation in Africa by supporting African diaspora entrepreneurs.

On October 24, United States Agency for International Development (USAID) Assistant Administrator for Europe and Eurasia Paige Alexander will participate in a panel discussion on the upcoming Ukrainian parliamentary elections at the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS).

Two New Basic Education Awards Will Help Provide a Pathway Out of Extreme Poverty for Children and Youth

The U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) announced today two new contract mechanisms designed to provide worldwide support to basic education programs for children and youth around the world. The awards are structured to support up to $1 billion in activities over five years, subject to the availability of funds: $500 million in activities to increase access to education in crisis and conflict-affected environments for 15 million children; and $500 million in activities to improve reading skills for up to 100 million children in primary grades. USAID Senior Deputy Assistant Administrator for the Bureau for Economic Growth, Education and Environment Charles North detailed the awards today at the Mobiles for Education Alliance Symposium in Washington, D.C.

The U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) with The Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) will host a major event focusing on Advances and Challenges in Political Transitions on Tuesday, October 21, 2014.

U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) Administrator Rajiv Shah announced nearly $142 million in humanitarian projects and grants to combat the Ebola outbreak in West Africa. Shah made the announcement after meeting with President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf of Liberia in the capital city of Monrovia.

The U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) today announced Katie Taylor as interim Child and Maternal Survival Coordinator, focused on the goal of ending preventable maternal and child deaths.

U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) Administrator Rajiv Shah will travel to Liberia, Sierra Leone, Guinea, and Senegal Oct. 13-17, to meet with national and local officials, aid organizations, and staff coordinating the international response to the Ebola outbreak in West Africa. USAID is helping to coordinate an aggressive U.S. Government response to the Ebola outbreak that leverages broad expertise and personnel from several federal departments and agencies, including the Departments of Defense, Health and Human Services, and State, as well as the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Today the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) announced the SPRING initiative, a partnership aiming to accelerate economic empowerment for girls. The project, with initial funding of $29 million, will help businesses bring products to market that enable girls to learn, earn, invest and save. The announcement commemorates International Day of the Girl, celebrated each year on October 11 to promote the rights of girls and address the unique challenges they face.

Spotlight on U.S. Government’s efforts to end global hunger through Feed the Future

U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) Assistant to the Administrator for Food Security Tjada McKenna will travel to Des Moines, Iowa, October 14-16, to participate in the Borlaug Dialogue International Symposium as part of the 2014 World Food Prize events.

Today, the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) announced it will partner with the United Nations Children Fund (UNICEF) to support the newly formed Global Partners’ Working Group on School-related Gender-based Violence. Through this $400,000, two-year grant, USAID will work with UNICEF to combat school-related gender-based violence at all levels. By working to defeat this barrier to girls’ education, the program will enable more girls to contribute to their families and societies, a critical step toward ending extreme poverty.

The U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) and other Saving Lives at Birth: A Grand Challenge for Development partners announced today they aim to invest an additional $50 million to save the lives of mothers and newborns in developing countries. USAID Administrator Rajiv Shah made the announcement at the annual Grand Challenges Meeting at the Bill &amp; Melinda Gates Foundation in Seattle, joining the Government of Norway, the Gates Foundation, and the UK Department for International Development (DFID) in the new pledge.

U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) Administrator Rajiv Shah today launched the Fighting Ebola: A Grand Challenge for Development with a call to innovators around the world to submit ideas focused on improving the tools used by frontline healthcare workers in the fight against Ebola in West Africa. The initial focus of the Challenge, as announced by President Obama on Sept. 26, is to generate pioneering solutions to improve the personal protective equipment (PPE) and tools used by healthcare workers battling Ebola. Shah detailed the initiative today at the Grand Challenges Annual Meeting in Seattle, Wash.

The U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) announced today more than $3 million in new fellowships to support graduate students at six leading U.S. universities. Through the U.S. Global Development Lab’s Expand the Research and Innovation (RI) Fellowship Program, USAID and Arizona State University, Rutgers University, The University of Notre Dame, University of California-Berkeley, University of Chicago, and the University of California-Davis will work to support cutting edge science and technology research that addresses development challenges.

In Seattle on Oct. 7, the Administrator will attend the annual Grand Challenges Meeting for Saving Lives at Birth: A Grand Challenge for Development. Grand Challenges partners include USAID, the Government of Norway, the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, Grand Challenges Canada, and the UK Department for International Development (DFID). Administrator Shah and partners will address the next phase of Grand Challenges.